It is hard to believe that it is only our fourth week in Session.

With the deadline to get all Finance bills heard just around the corner, much of the work this week involved committee Chairs putting together their Omnibus bills

Higher Education/Workforce Development Omnibus: On Tuesday, our committee rolled out the template for our Omnibus bill. I am proud of the bill we put together. We were able to make changes to both policy and funding within our Higher Education institutions. The comprehensive approach we took allowed us to help students from all of our systems: MnSCU, the University of Minnesota and the Private Colleges (Profit and Non-Profit). For MnSCU, we had to deal with a shortfall created last Session when we approved a tuition freeze late in the Session. We provided $17 million in operation funds, but did not put it in the base. We fixed that with this bill. The University of Minnesota had several initiatives that we supported this Session. Chief among these requests was an investment in regenerative medicine research. The University of Minnesota is a world-class research institution that has developed incredible breakthroughs in the field of medicine including the first ever open-heart surgery and the invention of the pacemaker. Now, they are poised to lead the way in the field of regenerative medicine, more often referred to as stem-cell research. We had professionals from the University in to testify on Tuesday. They put the committee in awe with their presentation about the importance of this investment and the life-saving opportunities that we have. As someone who has witnessed the power of this medicine first-hand, I was thrilled that we had the opportunity to bring the world one step closer to the new age of medicine. The final thing I will mention about our Higher Education Omnibus bill is the change that we made in the State Grant program, which allows more kids to access more funds. Last Session, the Legislature and Governor made a significant investment in the program. This January, we learned that there was money left in the program that had been used. We were able to adjust the formula so that students can utilize the left over money (approximately $20 million) to reduce the cost of attendance and graduate with less debt.

Education Policy: While I no longer sit on this committee, I still keep close tabs on everything that goes on in our Education Policy committee. On Friday, I was made aware of a significant change in the direction of our Teacher Evaluation system. For the last eight years, we have been pushing to reform our teacher performance system. In 2005, we implemented Q Comp a comprehensive approach to teacher mentor and support opportunities, as well as pay incentives for performance. This was a voluntary program that school districts could adopt, which would be supported by additional state funding. In 2011, the Legislature passed a Teacher Evaluation law that would ensure that every teacher receives feedback regarding their performance as well as training and development as needed. This has been controversial and many are still trying to stop this. One thing we keep hearing is that this is an unfunded mandate. The Legislature can fund it, we just havent. I introduced a bill, SF 1761, to fund it. It didnt even receive a hearing. On Thursday, the Education Policy committee voted to push back the effective date on the Teacher Evaluation program. Many of us forward-thinking education policymakers were taken aback by this approach. I will be working to re-instate the effective date. We cannot put this off any longer. Our kids deserve the best.

E-12 Omnibus: As many of you know, E-12 is a policy arena that is near and dear to my heart. The Senate Omnibus bill used 2/3 of its supplemental finance bill to support early education. This is divided between Early Learning scholarships, Early Childhood Family Education and School Readiness. Another issue to highlight from the E-12 Omnibus bill is the provision that we added in to give free lunch for kids who qualify for reduced-price lunch. This is an issue that we should have addressed long ago. Many students are turned down every day from school lunch officials because they dont have money to pay for their food. Of no fault of their own, these kids go hungry. This leads to embarrassment and underperformance in the classroom. It has a major effect on the morale of these young kids and their willingness to participate. I am a strong supporter of the change we made and would have liked to take it a step further, but the votes were not there. ( To view the E-12 bill in its entirety visit this site, http://ow.ly/v8GTM )